The Morris Ring

Handsworth Sword Dancers in 1913 The Morris Ring has an extensive archive of morris related material, and is always interested in any such items. Please contact one of the archivists listed below or the Chair of Morris Ring Archive Group, Chris Metherell, if you want more information.

The Morris Ring Archivists

The archivists are currently:

• Archive Group (Chairman): chris [at] metherell [dot] org [dot] uk (Chris Metherell)
• Keeper of the Paper & Film Archive: Geoff Douglas
• Keeper of the Mumming Archive: mumminguk [at] mail [dot] com (Ron Shuttleworth)
• Keeper of the Ring Photograph Archive: Duncan Broomhead
• Keeper of the Sword Dance Archive: nascentprojects [at] aol [dot] com (Ivor Allsop)
• Keeper of the Sound Archive: andy [dot] padmore [at] ntlworld [dot] com (Andy Padmore)
• New Dance Collator: Mike Wilkinson
• Scrapbook Keeper & Recorder: keith [at] wilfmorris [dot] fsnet [dot] co [dot] uk (Keith Francis)

Links to other archive resources

• The Morris Ring Archive - has just been moved the the Essex Records Office (July 2010).
• Side Histories a list of Morris Ring sides and when they were founded and then joined the Morris Ring.
• Mumming Ron Shuttleworth's archive of mumming plays.
  See also the Folk Play Research Site and Master Mummers, as well as the electronic version of the Cawte, Helm, and Peacock English Ritual Drama (ERD).
• Photographs we have a large archive of morris photographs. About 200 of these are available - this resource is awaiting relocation.
• Video & Film Ivor Alsop runs our video archive and has a considerable collection of videos, both of sword dance events, of past Morris Ring meetings and other morris events. See the index here {but note that this index is still being corrected and compiled.
• Animals Phil Underwood has an archive for the many beasts in the morris! Meanwhile don't forget The Illustrious Order of Fools and Beasts!
• Internet The link is to the Internet Archive aka "The Wayback Machine". To illustrate the use of this look at the following:
  • Colne Royal Morris Men
  • March Past Morris Dance Bristol Morris Men May 1^st2009
  • Morris Ring New Squire: Sept2008
  • Bristol Morris Men dancing Pepper in the Brandy
  • Thaxted Horn Dance: 2009
  All of the above refer to "conventional" archives, however the advent of the web brings on another aspect of archiving, namely how do we keep records of morris material written for the web? Here is a personal view, concerning the growth of morris related sites and what can be done to preserve them for future reference - using the Internet Archive. There is the additional question about archiving the Morris Ring website itself, however we are in the Internet Archive, solving part of the problem!